A publishing house that produced some of the most significant cartographical material of the Dutch Golden Age. The firm was established by Claes Janszoon Visscher the Elder. However, it was his son, Claes Janszoon Visscher II who first emerged as a printmaker - and one of the most prolific publishers in Europe. His grandfather had been a fisherman, and fishermen are a recurring theme throughout Visscher’s engravings: his monogram included a fishhook. By 1605, he was working for Willem Jansz Blaeu on his monumental world map and by 1608 he was signing his name as the creator and publisher of his own works. Despite his formidable output and stock, we know little about Claes Janszoon II himself. Alongside the print business, he and his family made a fortune buying property. Claes Janszoon’s son Nicolaes joined the business until his own death, followed by his son Nicolaes II until 1702. Nicolaes II's wife Elizabeth Verseyl successfully continued the firm until her death in 1726.